No black lines digi tutorial

So I've been seeing all of these lovely projects with no black lines stamping, using a very light-colored stamp ink. Since I mainly use digital stamps, I needed to figure out how to do this in my trusty Adobe PhotoShop. Oh, I muddled through (prob could have found something on the web ;), but determined to figure it out for myself. Since I use CS5, these are the steps I took to achieve the "look" of no black lines when using a digi stamp. Of course, you'll need to be able to print in color, so that's the first tip ;)

Here's what I did:

•  Opened image in CS5 (sample shown is one of my fave Mo Manning images, Baby Fairy Flora, and can be found here)
•  Top bar menu: image>mode> check RGB color, check 8 bits
•  Top bar menu: window>check actions, layers, options, tools
•  Under layers tab: right click "background layer", duplicate layer
•  Under layers tab: you'll now see background layer and background copy
•  Under layers tab: click on first background (the one with the lock) and delete
•  Top bar menu: image>adjustments>hue/saturation, move lightness bar until you fade the image  nearly entirely, click okay
•  Top bar menu: image>adjustments>photo filter (make sure preserve luminosity box is checked), click color, click on color box, click on color picker, click on color libraries, choose your color (I use Panatone solid coated) ex. 475c, click okay, move density bar to 100%
• Top bar menu: image>adjustments>hue/saturation, move saturation bar to 50% and lightness to whatever saturation you would like to print.

Here are my results. Hope these steps work for you!

If you'd like to view the completed project with Baby Fairy Flora, you can find it here.

 Love,

Wendy

Thank You, Peggy!

Peggy and my birthdays are only two days apart and over the past 21 years, we have usually celebrated our "birthtweenday"; however, this year she was working and so we celebrated on my birthday. We hadn't gotten together in a couple of years (ya, know, that life thing...), but this year we spent 5 hours at one of our fave sushi places - sooooo much fun!!! She broke the rules and slipped a fun "inspiration" bracelet in my card, so this is my thank you to her.

Followed the sketch over at the Sweet Stop, which was perfect for my project.

Chose one of my fave Mo images, Baby Fairy Flora. Wanted to try my hand at "no black lines" and waded my way through the muck and mud in photoshop, but finally figured it all out. Love the outcome. You can find my "no black lines digi" mini-tutorial here

Used some fun DP by Prima with a blue and yellow theme. Also brought out two of my fave Memory Box dies - crisp bows and madera corner, but then really who am I kidding - all of my MBs are faves! LOL. Also added some crystal acrylic flowers, a little personalized tag/ticket, a bit of embossing and spellbinder cuts with the cuttlebug, organza ribbon and floss, and a little bit of stickles painted on her wings and edge of dress. Thank goodness I don't have to mail this one-with nearly 10 layers, it is quite heavy :)

Did up the inside a bit, too :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Love,

Wendy

Challenges: The Sweet Stop-sketch; Sweet 'n Sassy Digi Challenge-thank you; Simon Says Stamp Challenge-AG; Crafting for all Seasons Challenge-layers; Crafts and Me Challenges-ribbon; Divas by Design-AG; Scrapbook Sisters-AG; Crafty Sentiments-AG; Die Cuttin Divas-AG; Scrap-Creations-fairies; Ladybug Crafts Ink TLT challenge-something with wings; Party Time Tuesdays-AG; Top Tip Tuesday-stash/tip (ribbon, floss, image, stickles); 

Mrs. B's "Just Because" Candy!

 

Why you may ask? "Just Because" May 25th is my birthday! Oh, yes, 1961 was a great year :)

The Candy consists of :

~ 4 Magnolia Mini World unmounted stamps

Winter Forest

Unwrapped Tilda

Wrapped Tilda

Winter Fence

~ 1 yard of 3/8" grosgrain "Merry Christmas" ribbon

**********************************************************************

*****Candy Wrapper Instructions*****

*Be or become a follower of my blog

*Place the candy photo on your sidebar with a link back to my blog

*Add your name to Mr. Linky below

On or about 12:01 a.m. on May 25th, Ms. RG (random generator) will do her thing, and the recipient of my "Just Because" candy will be announced. Check back on my birthday to see if you're the candy "getter" :)

Love,

Wendy

Here are your random numbers:

33

Timestamp: 2012-05-25 14:35:40 UTC

That's you, Heaney!

Please contact me, so i can get your package in the mail!

Thank you to all who played. Come back often, as there will be more candy very soon!

Sweet Shavana

Only one week left to enter my "maggie" candy here!

For my project today, I followed the sketch over at Mojo Monday

Last weekend was a get together weekend for us girls at our favorite bed & breakfast in Folsom, California - The Bradley House. I've had a reservation for nine years now and get to choose weekend getaways for scrappin' buddies and myself - we always have the best time. This past weekend, Shavana's father had lost his battle with cancer, so she was working on the memorial boards and memories for the service. I knew I wanted to create a card for Shavana, and wanted to make it special for the loss of a father. I used my MS butterfly punch, Spellbinders ovals and lacey ovals, along with butterfly impressabilities. Added some roses, heart stickpins, a clear acrylic flower, Sizzix sizlette swirl flourish, ribbons/lace and a heart key charm from my LSS. I love the sentiment, and know Shavana will also.

Her parents divorced when she was very young and she was raised by her mother. Her father and her found each other when she was 18, and made up for all the time they had lost. They became best friends. Michael was a tall strapping man, and loved his daughter to no end.

Shavana was blessed to get to know her father and have him as an integral part of her life for the last 20 years, making him not only a father, but a father-in-law and grandfather!

Today is Michael's day to be placed to rest. Blessings and my deepest heartfelt condolences to my sweet friend Shavana and her wonderful family. Rest in peace, Michael.

Love,

Wendy

Challenges I'd like to enter: Mojo Monday-sketch; Inky Impressions-lace/trim; Simon Says Stamp-CAS;  365 cards-wordy; Truly Scrumptious-AG; Whimsy Stamps Challenge-AG; A and T digital designs-embossing;

Have a Yummy Birthday!

Don't forget to enter my Maggie "just because" Candy HERE!

So I've had six personal best days of my life so far! The day Isaac was born was one of them. Isaac and his wife (Kath) live in Nashville and are both history professors (Isaac-British Studies; Kath-American History) - their birthdays are one week apart and since Isaac is off to England on the 15th for six weeks where he will have an on-campus interview for a tenured position at Warwick University (wooooohooooie) while there, I'm sending off both cards today so they can have them before he goes "across the pond".

I chose this sweet image from Sassy Cheryl's Digis "Sneaky Bear Birthday Cupcake" which you can now find in her $2 bin (hurry, these will retire this month!). I don't do very many "masculine" cards, so this was a bit out of my box.

Followed the PTI anniversary sketch #3 and thought the "bunting" was perfect for this card. Used the cuttlebug to emboss the dots, my star punch to make the "chips" distress on the bunting, sewed the floss through, chalked the edges and used my trusty fine point sharpie to faux sew.

The DPs are BasicGrey and MME, which I thought really complimented each other. The front calendar is from Cindy Close and just put the number 18 for the date, as that is the special day!

The inside of the card on the left has a diagonal pocket for the gift card, and the inside sentiment on the right is from Tracey Brossart - I love this sentiment and Tracey is so clever and amazingly creative!

Bazzil buttons and DMC floss are my main embellies for this card - sometimes i forget about my hoarded buttons, but had fun adding them to this creation. Used my Spellbinders to cut and emboss my image, and colored it all up with my copics.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Love,

Wendy

Challenges: Simon Says Stamp Challenge-birthday; Sassy Chery's Challenge Blog-stitching; Cards and More Challenge-party; Craft-room Challenge-emboss; Creative Craft Challenge-AG; Papertake Weekly Challenge-cute; Always Crafting Creative Monday-AG; Incy Wincy Designs-spots/dots; Ooh La La Creations-manly; Tammy's Scrapin Corner-dies/punches; Catered Crop-"B"=birthday, bear, buttons, bunting; Come and get it challenge-let's hear it for the boys; Great Impressions Challenge-AG; That Craft Place Challenge-one for the boys; {Cupcake Insiprations}-#159; A and T Challenge Blog-AG; Mad for Markers monthly challenge-masculine colors; Sparkles Monthly Challenge- *Men*; 2 Sisters Challenge Blog-#90 AG; BasicGrey Challenge-1,2,3 recipe; Catch the Bug Challenge-AG; One Stop Craft Challenge-celebrations; Sweet Stampin' Challenge-four legged friends; Cardmadfairy's Digi Challenge-add a number; Crafty Ann's Challenge-stitching; Inspire me Fridays-AG; Stampin' for the weekend-4+layers/blog hop;

Lovely Nuptuals!

Maggie "Just Because" Candy Here!

What a sweet day we had yesterday, at this darling couple's wedding. My husband was the minister and I had the honor of being their photographer!

The Ceremony

The Wedding Party

The Four of Us

The Beautiful Couple

Just sharing my Friday ~ Thanks for looking!

love,

Wendy

A bit of my photography

Enter my Maggie Candy "Just Because" HERE!

It's Senior Portrait crunch time for me... now have two more sittings this week... and all want "done" so they can send with their announcements. Fortunately or unfortunately (haven't decided yet), this happens every year, so I knew it was coming :) Here's a few I did the other night for a very nice young gentleman - fun shoot and he loves the results... wanted that "urban" modern feel, so I'm having a lot of fun in photoshop! :) He's off to college in the fall to play baseball and get his degree!

 

 

Just sharing, and thanks for looking! Off now to the rehearsal for Friday's wedding.

love,

wendy

Sweetest Word You'll Ever Hear!

Maggie Mini's "Just Because" candy here!

And what is that sweetest word for us who are mommies... I can still hear every one of my children when they were wee wittle bitty things say "Mommy" :) Their sweet little voices still ring in my mind - love it!

For this Mother's day card I chose one of my new gifted maggies - still working on the shading techniques of these sweet stamps - but practicing is soooo fun! Followed the sketch over at Papertake Weekly by Dawny P.

This one I used my MS deep corner punch (this punch is one of my faves and well worth my investment). The DPs are from EchoPark "Victoria Garden". I distressed-shabby upped the edges of my DP with my Tim Holtz distressing tool. The roses were white and colored with copics and sprinkled with "sugar" glitter to go with the theme of the sentiment.

I am soooo thrilled to share with you Tiffany's awesome tutorial on custom-fit sentiments to spellbinders - you MUST check out this tutorial to take the guesswork out of the sizing of your sentiments/nesties.

I was at the LSS the other day and finally got the Lacey Oval nestie to go with my large ovals - perfect for this card. Also cut some Sizzix sizzlets flourishes - all done with my cuttlebug. Added some pearly fun to the roses and lots of layers with lots of double-sided foam tape.

Oh, ya, and it's an easel, too :)

Wicked busy week ahead for me (Shirley, it didn't take me more than a week to fill up my calendar! - LOL) now that I'm retired! First BFF and I went through the "scrap shed" today and pulled everything out preparing for a HUMUNGO craft sale next Sunday May 6th and will finish organizing over 2,000 patterned papers and about that much again in cardstock, page kits, embellies up the wazooo, stamps, tools, storage - you name it, I've got it! Late afternoon tomorrow photographer for a Diamond Wedding Anniversary party, Monday I have two senior portrait sittings, Wednesday a rehersal, Friday a wedding (package deal - sweet hubby is the minister) - whew... and then after the Craft sale, on to the next Estate sale with a house full of antiques and collectables. So if I'm MIA next week, you'll know why :)Thanks for stopping by today!

Love,

Wendy

Challenges: Papertake Weekly-Dawny P sketch; Simon Says Stamp-AG; CMC Copic Challenge-celebrations; Craftymess Challenge Blog-distress/emboss; Hiding in my Craft Room-mothers/flowers; My Sheri CRAFTS-Flowers/mom; Sugar Creek Hollow-Mother; Crafts 4 Eternity-spring; Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge-AG; Prairie Fairy Fridays-flowers; Fussy and Fancy Friday-punches/dies; Stampin' for the Weekend-sparkle/shine; The Poodles Parlour-AG; Wags 'n Whiskers Stamps-distressing; Chocolate, coffee & Cards-BINGO/distress/punches/ribbon; Moving Along With The Times-garden/flowers

Retirement Party and Party Favor!

TIME TO CELEBRATE!

Yesterday I posted my countdown chalkboard in my cube at work to RETIREMENT

20 WORKING DAYS LEFT!!!! WOOOOHOOOOIE!!!!

I'm sooooo excited, just can't hide it and decided I wanted to celebrate with you by having a 20-workdays "Retirement Party".
Come celebrate with me!

Here's the details of the "Retirement Party" party favor.
- Waaaay EZ-PZ -

1. Welcome to the party! Just be a follower of my blog - new follower or already a friend!
2. Post the "Retirement Party" favor above with a link back to my blog on your sidebar.
3. Sign my guestbook by entering your name in Mr. Linky below (once, please).
4. You'll have until Friday, April 27th at 11:00 p.m. PDT, when I'll let Ms. RG (random generator) pick a number to receive my party favor!

Thank you for coming to my RETIREMENT PARTY!

love,

Wendy

Here are your random numbers:
 10 
Timestamp: 2012-04-29 06:55:42 UTC
That's YOU, Designs by Cathi email me, by clicking on my profile where you'll find my email addy, so I can get your Oozak $25.00 GC code to you!

Thank you to ALL who came to my Retirement Party - It was very fun... and Retirement ROCKS!!!

A Tisket-a-Tasket, A Flowery "EB" Spring Basket!

Don't forget to enter my candy give-aways here (Retirement Part-Oozak GC) and here (Just Because-maggie mini set) :)

So my day started with getting ready for a dentist appointment, which my husband had forgotten about and he loaned my car (little red "solstice" sports car) to our son to go golfing. I was a bit disappointed, cuz I had to drive the BIG truck (HUGE 250 ford 4x4, king ranch/king cab, long bed) and it's sooooo BIG! After my appointment I was headed to the LSS to pick up some flat pearls for my project. Here is the driver's side of the Lincoln Continental Town Car-the side I didn't hit! Never trust a person to motion you to turn left over three lanes of traffic when you can't see the furthest lane, and don't mess with the BIG truck (thank goodness I was driving it!). Thankfully no one was seriously injured (minor whiplash), just Lincoln parts strewn all over the road - and my first car accident, ever... The other driver was cited for causing the accident and his car was towed. I hope to never have another one again in my life... terrifying experience!

But the night ended on a happy note with my first cascading "Basket" (inspired by Wendy Fraser) card, all the while singing the song with Ella Fitzgerald "A Tisket a Tasket...", for Elisabeth Bell's World Challenge Blog April/May Monthly Challenge! This month's theme is spring and flowers and I chose this darling digi image by Elisabeth Bell "I love You This Much". All colored up with copics.

I cut a ton of flowers with my Spellbinder's and CC Designs, along with Marianne Butterflies, Sweet & Sassy Stamps hearts, Sizzix circles for the handles and Memory Box Meadow Leaf dies - all cut and embossed with the Cuttlebug. The patterned papers are from the Echo Park "Victoria Garden" collection... and... flat pearls (yes, after they changed my front tire and pulled my bumper straight with the wench, I went to the LSS :) Added a few rhinestones to the butterflies and used my vintage seam binding ribbon for the bows (love this stuff!).

Be sure to pop over to Elisabeth Bell's World Challenge Blog and join in the fun!

Wishing you a WONDERFUL "Tisket a Tasket" accident-free Day!

love,

Wendy

Challenges: Simon Says Stamp Challenge-AG; The House That Stamps Built-DCC425, card for a woman you love; Inky Impressions-AG; Creative Card Crew-ribbon; Deep Ocean Challenge-punches/dies; Scrap-Creations-It's a girl thing; Paper and Such Designs-just for the girls/mother's day; BnW Challenge Blog-spring is in the air; Love to Create Challenge Blog-AG; Stamp and Create Challenge-Spring; The Crazy Challenge-feminine/girly; Victorian Stamps Challenge-AG; The Shabby Tea Room-April Showers/photo inspiration; One Stitch At a Time-AG; That Craft Place Challenge-no square/rectangle; 2 Sisters Challenge blog-over the edge; Just some lines-april showers/flowers; ATCs and Cards with Attitude-AG; Crafts 4 Eternity-something new "pearls/image/fold"; Prairie Fairy Fridays-flowers; Fat Pages and Cards with attitude-AG/faces; Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge-punches/dies; Wags 'n Whiskers-AG; Flourishes Timless Tuesday Challenge-BINGO "pink/ribbon/die"; House of Gilli-sparkle/shine/ribbon; Lexi's Creations-punches/dies; Come and Get it Challenges-Zfold